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------ Forwarded Message
From: Morne Viljoen <mviljoen@bdz.co.za>
Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2006 15:05:26 +0200
To: "Trevor Babich (Fishingowl)" <4_babich@fishingowl.co.za>
Subject: Panic ridden residents gripped in toxic fear

Jonathan Ancer
IOL November 06 2006 at 11:25AM

Panic gripped Grahams-town residents this week after fears that the town's water was toxic.

When thousands of residents opened their taps last Sunday, all that trickled out was a chocolate-coloured sludge.

According to the Makana Municipality, pumps at the reservoir were damaged during a lightning storm the previous day and the water supply had run dry.

According to one official, the impurities were a result of loosened sediments that had dried because the pipes and reservoirs supplying water had been empty.

On Monday, after a day of sludge, water dried up completely.

Students brushed their teeth with mineral water, Kingswood College bailed water out of its swimming pool to fill the school's toilet cisterns, and restaurants and coffee shops managed to stay open by serving coffee with bottled water.

But when their dirty dishes piled up, many were forced to close because they couldn't wash them.

The municipality dispatched water tankers to various areas to supply water. But it was a case of too little, too late for the owner of the town's trendiest eatery, the Trading Store.

Owner Ford Evanson was forced to close his establishment last week because he couldn't wash the dishes.

Evanson has vowed to send a R10 000 bill to the Makana Municipality to cover the loss of income.

However, water once again flowed out of taps on Thursday. The grubby town breathed a collective sigh or relief - that is until Rhodes University dropped a bombshell.

In an urgent message to its staff and students, the university's spokesperson Guy White warned that "serious concerns have been voiced over the toxicity levels of the municipal water supply".

White said that Martin Davies, of the department of ichthyology and fisheries science, had revealed that more than 35 000 fish at the university's experimental fish farm had died over the last few days because of the toxicity level.

The message soon spilled over into Grahamstown, sparking a scramble to stockpile bottled water.

The water flew off the shelves and stores made plans to fetch more bottled water from around the Eastern Cape.

Rhodes shipped in truckloads of bottled water for its students and said food in the residences had been prepared with "safe" water.

While the university waits for its results, which are expected early in the week, it will be erecting large storage tanks at each of the residences which will be filled with "safe" borehole water.

Morné Viljoen

Natural Resources Law Department
BDZ Attorneys
(W) (011) 886-4628
(F) (011) 886-4452
(C) 083-395-3929

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